Thyrsites atun
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| Snoek | ||||||||||||||
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| Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791) |
The Thyrsites atun, a.k.a. snoek, is a long, thin, perch-like commercial food fish belonging to the Gempylidae family. It is found in the seas of the Southern Hemisphere. It is also known in Australia as barracouta though it is not related nor should it be confused with Barracuda. It can grow up to 200 cm. (78 inches)long and weigh as much as 6 kg. (13.23 lbs,). It is found near continental shelves or around islands and feeds on crustaceans, cephalopods and small fish like anchovy and pilchard. This species will form schools near the bottom or midwater; sometimes even near the surface at night. It prefers sea water temperature between 13° and 18°C.
It is sold fresh, smoked, canned and frozen. It can be cooked by frying, broiling, baking and it can also be microwaved. It is also made and eaten as fishcakes in regions such as Japan. It is prepared most often by grilling, frying or smoking. It is oily, extremely bony (although the bones are large and easily removed from the cooked fish) and has very fine scales which are almost undetectable, making it unnecessary to scale the fish while cleaning. Snoek has a very distinctive taste. Though very popular in regions like South Africa, it was not so popular to certain generations of British residents during the Second World War due to it being considered a food item of deprivation. Canned Snoek was imported in large quantities into Great Britain and government marketing of the product was not successful and may have had a negative effect. In South Africa, it is mostly caught and eaten in the southwestern coastal parts of the country. It is traditionally served grilled over coals with boiled sweet potatoes. This is a regional speciality.
[edit] References
- Thyrsites atun (TSN 172372). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 18 April 2006.
- Davidson, Alan. Oxford Companion to Food (1999). "Snoek". p. 731
- "Thyrsites atun". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- snoek fishing in False Bay, South Africa circa 1976 a selection of black and white images featuring local snoek fishermen at work.
